Judge or Jury?

_{Image by Collins Lesulie}

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Hello everyone, how are you doing today? I trust the day is going really swell for you, that is good.

So, some weeks back, we all made posts concerning Social Media, we all poured out our honest thoughts on the issue. But then, I have a question for us all.

Should people be judged by their social media postings?

I know this question should have quite an easy and straightforward answer, but then before we go into that let me try and give you my opinion on the matter.

As we all know, social media is basically a website or an application on the smartphone or personal computer that allows the user to create, share content or take part in social networking with the website or application. That is the basic building block of any app that is in existence today. From Facebook to Discord and even down here to Hive, we are consistently creating content and taking part in social networking.

Based on beliefs or what we see in our environment, we make posts to that effect, engage with others on the platform and build meaningful relationships. Sometimes we might make posts on controversial topics and forget all about it as we move on with our daily lives.

_{Image by Camilio Jimenez}

The thing is that when you are just an ordinary person, a lot of people do not care about what you have to say because they believe that anything you do say has no weight. That is just the basic truth, and the algorithms that run these apps do not help much either. That is why someone can make a controversial post about a hot topic and could not get any heat.

But then, fast forward to a few years, this person is probably an international celebrity and on the verge of achieving the pinnacle of their career.

That is when the ugliness in the form of their old posts will come up. You will see people that are offended by what he had posted a few years back and for that, they want nothing to do with him. Sometimes they can go as far as making the person lose a lot of deals just because of something they had done in the past.

So, I am asking again, should a person be judged by the kind of posts they make?

Now it is getting a bit tricky to answer.

I believe we all should not be judged by our past, because people grow every day and when we make mistakes we cannot unmake them. And with the internet, once it is done there is no erasing it.

When people make posts, it is probably about what they feel and believe at that particular moment in time. That is what inspires that post and that therefore they are able to voice it out. but as they grow and meet more people, it is always possible that their views on life may change and the beliefs that they had clung to so tightly may change as well. This is something that happens on a daily basis.

We learn, we evolve, and we become better versions of ourselves.

We see the reflection of the better version in the posts they make, they no longer make those fiery posts anymore. They are more learned and more disciplined and therefore they have stronger control over the content they put out there. This is who they are now and they have left that past behind them.

_{Image by Marten Bjork}

But most times, the past does not stay in the past. We have seen that in the case of BXNX(formerly known as Buju), Kevin Hart, Iggy Azalea and so many more. Some were still able to remain active in their chosen fields, while for others their careers were just destroyed.

And the funny thing about this thing is that it is caused by the fans and the people. When you are famous, you have the eyes of everyone on you, both those that love you and those that hate you. Many people are just looking for that little opportunity to take you down. And the moment they get it, the rest will be history.

So, how do we go from here?

Humans are not meant to judge others, but it is also something we cannot do without. It is ingrained in our DNA to judge. Because that is the only way we can relate with others, it is the way we pick our friends and the kind of profession we want to venture into. And for this, I know that many of us will find it difficult not to judge others.

But when someone’s old posts come up and it is generating a lot of heat on social media, do a little research before you join those that are clamoring for their heads. Check the person’s most recent posts, are they still based on that same controversial topic? Does the person still make that kind of post or did the person stop after a while?

_{Image by Robin Worrall}

These are factors to consider. It could mean that they have learned their lessons and moved on with their lives, but bringing it all back puts all that in jeopardy.

Also, if it turns out that the person is still making such posts that inspired the heat against them in the first place, then the person should probably get the heat.

And one more thing, if the posts from the past that were uncovered involved criminal activities of any sort, provided the person has not faced the law then the story must be taken as far as it can go until it reaches the appropriate authorities who will take adequate action.

This is of social media for you, putting the power in the hands of the people. You wield so much power and many have no idea.

So, my dear friends, when you make posts and put them out there for the world to see know that they will be there for a very long time. So you have to think twice about what you put up, if not five to ten years from now when you believe it is all in the past, those posts will come back and haunt you.

Be wise.

_{Image by Shawn Fields}

Thank you for reading, till we meet in the next post.

_{Borderimage credit: @deimage.}